By admin 
The town of Lexington will have to pay $5.7 million to their neighbors in West Columbia after a judge ruled Lexington added water customers to their system that should have belonged to the other city.
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The decision handed down last week concluded a years-long fight between the neighboring municipalities about water service to hundreds of customers in an area of Lexington County between the two.
Judge Frank Addy sided with West Columbia on all points at issue in the lawsuit, saying Lexington violated a previous agreement between the two when it added customers to the town’s water system in the disputed area.
“(T)he Court rules that West Columbia is entitled to relief in the form of damages for lost revenue, injunctive relief concerning existing customers being wrongfully served by Lexington as well as future service disputes, and a declaratory judgment clearly stating its service rights,” Addy wrote in the order filed Wednesday.
The dispute dates back to 2018, but since the legal case was reopened in 2023, the case had cost local taxpayers in the two municipalities some $1.4 million as of earlier this year. Lexington spent more than $1 million on legal fees, while West Columbia spent nearly $400,000, The State reported in February.
The ruling awards West Columbia revenue it lost because Lexington was providing water services to the customers at the time and blocks Lexington from providing services to the communities affected.
The dispute covers an area south of Lake Murray, between the Saluda River and the Lexington town limit. The two municipalities agreed in 1997 that the area would be served by West Columbia’s water system. But when that agreement was renewed in 2007, the two sides developed different ideas about what it meant.
West Columbia thought it would remain the exclusive water provider for the area, while Lexington believed newly developed areas and new residents moving into the fast-growing region would be up for grabs.
Addy ruled that West Columbia never surrendered its claims to serve the area, despite Lexington’s late submission in the case of a version of the 2007 agreement that was missing a key exhibit, potentially putting 1,400 customers across six subdivisions into play for new Lexington water customers.
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Addy’s ruling left little doubt how seriously he took this submission.
“A now-former Lexington staff member testified that he ‘discovered’ this new version of the 2007 Agreement, perhaps tellingly, on April 1, 2025,” the judge wrote, an apparent reference to April Fools’ Day. “The Court does not find Lexington’s lately discovered version of the 2007 Agreement to be controlling or credible…. Lexington’s recordkeeping concerning the 2007 Agreement was sloppy at best and fraudulent at worst.”
A spokesperson for Lexington had not replied to a request for comment before this story was published.
The judge found that customers were being served by Lexington in violation of the previous agreement, potentially costing West Columbia millions of dollars. Calculations provided by the city led to the more than $5 million judgment.
“The numbers in that order accurately reflect all the harm done to the city,” West Columbia Mayor Tem Miles said. “We attempted to resolve this before it went to court. We attempted many times to resolve this in the course of litigation, and it’s unfortunate it came to this, but I think the numbers are sound.
“The city’s intention is to receive the money it’s due and resume serving the customers in that area,” the mayor said.
Addy’s ruling will also prevent Lexington from extending its water service to the area in the future.
“The Court permanently enjoins Lexington from constructing lines to serve, serving, or otherwise serving any properties within the six subdivisions…. or any properties West Columbia was serving in the ‘Defined Area’ as of the 1997 Agreement.”
Lexington has 120 days to transfer any customers it serves in the area to West Columbia, the judge ruled.
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